This book demonstrates the rich and varied ways in which heavy metal music draws on the ancient Greek and Roman world. Contributors examine bands from across the globe, including: Blind Guardian (Germany), Therion (Sweden), Celtic Frost, Eluveitie (Switzerland), Ex Deo (Canada/Italy), Heimdall, Stormlord, Ade (Italy), Kawir (Greece), Theatre of Tragedy (Norway), Iron Maiden, Bal-Sagoth (UK), and Nile (US). These and other bands are shown to draw inspiration from Classical literature and mythology such as the Homeric Hymns, Vergil’s Aeneid, and Caesar’s Gallic Wars, historical figures from Rome and ancient Egypt, and even pagan and occult aspects of antiquity.
These bands’ engagements with Classical antiquity also speak to contemporary issues of nationalism, identity, sexuality, gender, and globalization. The contributors show how the genre of heavy metal brings its own perspectives to Classical reception, and demonstrate that this music—often dismissed as lowbrow—engages in sophisticated dialogue with ancient texts, myths, and historical figures. The authors reveal aspects of Classics’ continued appeal while also arguing that the engagement with myth and history is a defining characteristic of heavy metal music, especially in countries that were once part of the Roman Empire.
Acknowledgements List of Illustrations Introduction: Where Metal and Classics Meet, K. F. B. Fletcher (Louisiana State University, USA) and O. Umurhan (University of New Mexico, USA) 1. Vergil’s Aeneid and Nationalism in Italian Metal, K. F. B. Fletcher (Louisiana State University, USA) 2. Eternal Defiance: Celtic Identity and the Classical Past in Heavy Metal, Matthew Taylor (Beloit College, USA) 3. Screaming Ancient Greek Hymns: The Case of Kawir and the Greek Black Metal Scene, Christodoulos Apergis (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece) 4. Cassandra’s Plight: Gender, Genre, and Historical Concepts of Femininity in Goth and Power Metal, Linnea Åshede (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) and Anna Foka, Sweden) 5. Heavy Metal Dido: Heimdall’s “Ballad of the Queen”, Lissa Crofton-Sleigh (Santa Clara University, USA) 6. A Metal monstrum: Ex Deo’s Caligula, Iker Magro-Martínez (University of the Basque Country, Spain) 7. Occult and Pulp Visions of Greece and Rome in Heavy Metal, Jared Secord (Washington State University, USA) 8. “When the Land was Milk and Honey and Magic was Strong and True”: Edward Said, Ancient Egypt, and Heavy Metal, Leire Olabarria (University of Oxford, UK) 9. Coda: Some Trends in Metal’s Use of Classical Antiquity, Osman Umurhan (University of New Mexico, USA) Bibliography Index
K. F. B. Fletcher is Associate Professor of Classics at Louisiana State University, USA. Osman Umurhan is Associate Professor of Classics at the University of New Mexico, USA.
Reviews for Classical Antiquity in Heavy Metal Music
[The] first attempt to break new ground by marrying Classics with metal music studies in an edited volume. * Bryn Mawr Classical Review * Tackles an array of complex contemporary issues. * History Today * Rich and stimulating ... The book should be hailed as a significant contribution to the study of the reception of antiquity in pop culture. * Anabases (trans. by Bloomsbury Academic) *
